Night Terrors

[LastChance]

My 4 year old nephew is suffering these night terrors and it's scary to watch. Anyone out there got any advice on what his mum can do to help/cure? He's not awake but is obviously terrified of something. Last one last night lasted 25 minutes.

LastChance, from what I understand, it's where you get stuck between two states of sleep - they're not actually dreaming as such, and chances are he won't remember anything about it in the morning (freaks you out though, doesn't it?!)

I noticed that ds1 was more likely to get them if he was over hot. He's four too... started getting them about ... um ... 3 years old? Hasn't had many recently though (although I wonder if the hot weather we've got at the moment may trigger another soon).

One thing to be aware of, is that the same condition is related to sleep walking, apparently! Since I found that out I made sure that our front door was locked every night with the key in (it's one of those locked when it's shut but can open from the inside unless the key is turned, iyswim?) - if ds1 did sleepwalk (he hasn't yet, but just in case) then he wouldn't be able to just walk out the door (I don't think he would be able to use the key while asleep).

Oh meant to say that received wisdom is not to interfere if you can help it, but let them get on with it. Sit nearby if you feel it will add comfort, sometimes I talk very softly to ds1 in the hope that my voice might soothe him but not too loud in case it wakes him abruptly. When he starts to calm down and I think it's almost over, sometimes I'll lay him back down again and he almost always turns over and goes straight back to sleep. The key thing is not to try and wake them as that can be very scary and rather a shock for them.

hmm a friend of mine had this
if you do an archived search I found some interstign ideas on here

Since he is 4, is he dry at nights yet? It is quite possible that what is causing his night terrors is the need to wee. If his parents can get to him as soon as he starts in his terrors, the sooner the better, and calmly speak to him, ask him does he need to go to the bathroom, and take his hand, walk him to the toilet and help him go potty, walk him back to bed, he will pretty much immediately fall asleep and they will have caught the terrors before they went into full blown mode. It will help train him to wake up when he needs to. They need to keep in mind that he is not awake when he is in terrors, nor will he be awake when they walk him to the bathroom. Key is to remain calm and soothing and not try to wake him out of it as you would a nightmare.

If it is a need to wee, taking him to the bathroom and putting a fresh nappy on him after he wees (he may have already done so in his nappy depending on how soon the parents respond to his cries), will help them subside and once he is back in bed he will zonk straight out.

If it is getting caught between stages of sleep, all they can really do is just be calm and soothing and making sure he doesn't hurt himself flailing about, until it subsides and he snaps out of it himself. Making sure he gets to bed at a regular time and is not over-tired or under stress will help keep episodes down. If he has a pattern, say has an episode usually an hour into sleep every time, they may try waking him gently 45 mins into sleep to interrupt his sleep cycle -- that is supposed to help. Again the sooner the parents can get to the child, whatever the root cause, the shorter the episode should tend to be.

Good luck, they are no fun but once you understand what they are they are easier to handle. And the child will grow out of it!

Thank you all SO much for your thoughts/ideas and helpful hints. Will let my sister know and this may just help her.

She knows not to try and wake ds and she just sits by his side to make sure he doesn't hurt himself but they are getting more frequent. Perhaps it is the weather! Hmmm. Any more experiences out there would be gratefully received.

Ooo yes - Roseberry, you are so right with the needing to wee! A few times we've guided him to the toilet and he's not awake, just running on instinct almost! And thinking about it, episodes have lessened since he's waking up himself, going to the loo and getting back into bed around 9.30/10ish (around the time where our night terrors would normally kick in).

Given the age, it is more likely that it is the need to wee waking him (and funny enough, bed wetters in later years have been found to have had night terrors when younger). Just look at it as a sign that he's ready to be night-trained, and work with the cries, using them as a cue to get him up and out of bed, walking to the toilet, doing his business and getting back into bed. Again, the sooner you can get to him, the better this is because it is the need to wee that is waking him, the cries get worse as he actually goes potty. Even still, if you get to him too late, go through the walking to the bathroom just to get the habit ingrained. Keep in mind if you get to him after he has wee'd his nappy, he will be harder to get to the toilet and it will be more frustrating. But he is still asleep, even if his eyes are open, so try to stay calm and cool. Again, once you get him back to bed he will conk right out and that should be it for the rest of the night.

Hopefully you'll find that this gets him night-trained and curbs the terrors, and sooner rather than later he will be out of nappies. But do be prepared for bed-wetting later. It's a possibility, but not the end of the world.

Thank you Roseberry. You have given us hope!

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My dd1 had this when she was 4 or 5 (she's now 12). At thetime we foubd that taking her to the toilet did help to settle her (she never woke up or remembered this). But the onset of these attacks coincided with noiser breathing at night and nose bleeds. The doctoers diagnosed that she had overly large adenoids which could cause a breathing interuption (scarey). She was pescribed beconase(spell?) and things did get better either the medication or she grew into her adenoids.

Even now when she has bad hayfever, as she has now, she will wake with 'bad dreams' which we presume is the same efect as previously but co-ped with by and older child.

I don't know how much this helps and I understand how hard and frightening it is to deal with a child in this state.

Hello all you lovely people. You've really helped with some practical, hands-on help here. Soooo much better than the usual "just sit it out and make sure they don't hurt themselves" we've read about. Little nephew starts his terrors with little coughs. Hmmm, puzzling.

My sister is currently unable to join in as her PC keeps crashing so, on her behalf, THANK YOU. I shall pass on the latest ideas to her and, if anyone has anymore, then please continue this thread.

We've heard that only 15% of children get these terrors and most are boys. We think it's a genetic thing. What do you think? Is it linked to sleep talking as well as sleep walking. Are these just milder forms of the thrashing about my little nephew goes through?

The articles I have read have suggested that night terrors are 'genetic' -- i.e., if a parent had them (check with grandparents because they will be the ones who remember), a child may. They do not necessarily lead to sleep-walking, but stem from the same sleep patterns. Likewise, night terrors do not mean the child will be a bed-wetter, but there are connections in sleep issues, so it both are something to look out for.

Basically what the nephew is going through is difficulty transitioning through the stages of sleep. What triggers this could be a number of things (or all of them depending on the day): overtiredness, stress (problems at school or in the home leading to worry), hunger, the need to wee. Basically, something is interrupting the transition from the first level of sleep into the next level. The child is not waking up, but unable to progress smoothly (but does eventually make it after the struggle).

Anticipating what is happening with the child can help curb both the number of incidents and the severity of them when they occur.

And the child will grow out of it, eventually!

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He's not had an episode for the last two days. My sister put him to bed earlier is all that's happened so far. I haven't checked about last night. I guess you have to read the child each day as it could be stress one day, overtired the next and so on.

All your advice is definately helping though as MS is much calmer about the whole thing and feels more able to stay calm now knowing what to try.

Can't wait until she can get her PC and find out what brilliant people there are on mumsnet.

MY Ds is 7 and he has night terrors, especially when its hot, I hate them,

My two and a half year old has been getting night terrors for about 6 months now and I've discovered that it is linked to him being overtired. He still has about an hours sleep after lunch and usually on the days he does not, he will have a night terror that evening. It usually happens about an hour after he's gone to bed and like previous advice I cannot touch him or even sit too close as this just makes it worse. I just sit on the end of the bed to make sure he doesn't hurt himself and then talk calmly to him when it looks like he's coming out of it. I have also discovered in the last couple of weeks that if I put his lullabys CD on this calms him down a lot quicker and the whole thing lasts less than 5 mins now.

OK. We, crossed fingers, seem to have got through the night terrors and I would like to share how! My daughter is 4 and had been suffering from them every night for a year. We tried loads of things. Then we gave her medised every night for two months. We felt very guilty about this, but were reassured by our GP that is was preferable to the whole family suffering. After the two months, we stopped medicating, and after a couple of days they crept back, but not as frequently as before. Then we gave OMEGA 3 suppliments, available from the SUpermarket, and this finally did the trick. In fact the days when she doesn't have them we can be sure she will have a night terror.
So I can only conclude that it was a combination of the above. Medised to get her out the habit, then Omega 3 to help her stay that way.
Really hope that helps, and good luck everyone.

We have been having a desperate time with our DD2's night terrors. She has been having them for a good 8 months and they are truely HORRENDOUS and very distressing. We have pin-pointed the same triggers - temp going up, over tiredness or too excitable before bed time. I have tried the waking before we think she will get one and she just goes ballistic and then goes into one anyway. I have tried making sure she has a nap in the afternoon - and yes from what I can see, she is less likely to have one that night BUT instead she will wake from the nap (whether by herself or by me) and she will scream horrifically for an HOUR (and I mean an hour) every time. I just don't know what to do. She didn't have a nap yesterday but we paid for it last night instead.

I don't know why she is having these screaming tantrums after a nap - they are similar to the night terrors where she is out of control and hysterical but she is awake.

I really need some help and advice on this. I would try taking her to the toilet at night time, but she starts screaming and kicking as soon as we start to stir her awake. I'm really at the end of my tether on this. I have an older child and a baby - who was also screaming last night with teeth- and I can't put the two wee ones in the same room because of the terrors.

Am interested to find out about the Omega 3 tho...

Sorry to hear about her nap time wakings. My
little girl was the same until she dropped her nap. And I agree, they are very similar to night terrors. The Omega 3 advice came from a friend whose child was goign through the same thing, and it worked for her too. Good luck xx

I didn't let her nap yesterday and she had a small NT last night and I didn't let her nap today and she just had a full-on ballistic tantrum before bedtime, which is usually a pre-cursor to an NT at night time. I'm really really so sick of hearing her screaming. I'm really struggling to handle this. Not helped today as I have scorching PMS. The day started off with her having a screaming fit cos I wouldn't let her have a sweet at 7am.

I think I will go buy Omega 3 tomorrow....